(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The following is a 28 May 2005 CEHURDES statement: CEHURDES condemns government’s order to close down a private radio production house Kathmandu, May 28 – Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) condemns the Nepal government’s latest order to close down a leading private-sector radio production house in the country. On Friday […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The following is a 28 May 2005 CEHURDES statement:
CEHURDES condemns government’s order to close down a private radio production house
Kathmandu, May 28 – Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) condemns the Nepal government’s latest order to close down a leading private-sector radio production house in the country.
On Friday (May 27), the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) sent a letter to the Communications Corner Pvt. Ltd – a private company involved in the production and distribution of materials for over a dozen radio stations around the country – asking it to close down its operations.
The letter, signed by a junior officer of the ministry, asked the production house to close down, “as the Ministry was apprised in writing that it was being operated illegally.”
The Ministry did not say who made the allegations, nor did it give the company an opportunity to present its side of the story. The letter doesn’t refer to any law under which the order was issued.
When contacted, the managing director of Communications Corner Pvt. Ltd., Gopal Guragain, said his company was duly registered with the concerned government department and was paying taxes. “We will not oblige the government, instead we will knock at the court’s door.” (Please visit http://www.nepalnews.com, which has posted the original letter written by the Ministry of Information and Communications authorising the company to start its operations.)
Set up nearly five years ago, Communications Corner was producing and distributing news and current affairs-based programmes to 14 FM radio stations around the country using satellite technology. The recent government order has come amid a ban on over 50 radio stations in the country, which has barred them from airing news and current affairs programmes since the royal takeover on Feb. 1 this year.
CEHURDES condemns the government’s act of preventing independent media from carrying out their professional duties. The government’s order is against the press and publication right guaranteed by the country’s constitution and international conventions to which Nepal is a party.
CEHURDES would like to urge the government to immediately withdraw its order and allow the company to continue operating without any further harassment. We also demand the lifting of all types of restrictions on FM radio stations around the country.
